In memory of Jeanne Larson

January 14th marked the three year anniversary of my mother’s passing. I happen to live near one of the most sacred sights in the world for Tibetan Buddhists, the Boudhanath Stupa, and to mark the occasion lit 200 butter lamps in her memory. Butter lamps are similar to candles, consisting of a copper base with butter as a fuel instead of wax and a wick in the middle. They are not tall like regular candles, but rest sturdily in their bases. They are offered for the benefit of the living or the deceased at sacred Buddhist places around the world.

My mother’s name is Jeanne Larson and she left a lasting legacy in the fields of nutrition, environmental activism, and peace work in the region where she lived, Northwestern Wisconsin.

In the field of nutrition, she held a Master’s Degree from the University of Bridgeport and worked as an allergy nutritionist at an ENT clinic. She wrote a prolific amount of literature on various topics related to nutrition in a series of pamphlets that asserted that eating whole, healthy foods is the most effective medicine to prevent and treat illnesses. On January 14th, 2007, she asked my father, Lynn, to drive to a friend’s house 12 miles away to deliver some nutritional literature the woman had requested to help her manage an illness.

In the field of environmental activism, she wrote countless letters to the editors of local newspapers to speak out against polluting SUV’s and snowmobiles in the area and promote environmental awareness and living in harmony with nature. She had a popular series of note cards called Down to Earth which paired her own photography of nature scenes with quotations taken from poets and philosophers. She launched her note card business from scratch and made sure to use recycled paper and biodegradable packaging at every stage. They were sold at stores throughout Bayfield County, Wisconsin. On January 14th, 2007, she stepped out of the house onto the deck for her daily ritual of greeting the sun and breathing in the fresh, clean air of our Cable, Wisconsin farm.

In the field of peace work, she was a founding member of Stop Project ELF and several local peace groups. Project ELF (ELF stands for extremely low frequency) was a communication base that gave orders to the U.S.’s nuclear-armed submarines by sending electric signals through the ground to receiving towers in remote areas. It was based near our home. Jeanne spoke at and helped to organize annual Mother’s Day rallies at Project Elf for over 20 years. All that worked paid off when Project ELF was shut down about five years ago. Jeanne also worked with her friend Marge to create a book called Seeds of Peace: A Catalogue of Quotations (1986), which was featured at the United Nations Book Store in New York. On January 14th, 2007, she traveled over 20 miles with my father to attend a meeting of Peace North, a peace advocacy group based in Hayward, Wisconsin. Later that year, Peace North dedicated the bus trip they took to Washington, D.C. to Jeanne, and marched at an anti-war rally in her memory.


On the evening of January 14th, 2007, after a full day that included attending my father’s church service and singing some of her favorite hymns, Jeanne sat down in her favorite chair and gazed out the window one last time at the apple tree in our front yard. She looked around her office at pictures of her favorite people and her favorite images from nature, and closed her eyes for the last time. She died peacefully with a smile on her face, knowing she had lived a full life and made a difference in the lives of countless people. I think of her every day as I, too, try to realize that peace of mind and foster the compassion and skill necessary to help others.